Report Indicates Parachuting Out Of The Airplane May Have Saved Their Lives

In a report released this week, the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said that two men who were fatally injured when the YAK-52 they were flying failed to recover from an inverted spin and went down in a lake might have survived if they had used the parachutes they were wearing. The two on board were an instructor and a student working on aerobatics. The accident occurred in Ulting Lane, Langford, U.K., in April 2011.

The online news site Total Essex reports that the AAIB report indicates that both pilots were wearing parachutes, but there had been no briefing as to their use. "Discussions with other participants in the school revealed that the use of these parachutes in this activity was not well understood," the report says. "Group briefing had not included use of parachutes, minimum abandoning heights or relevant procedures."

Since the accident, the aerobatic school has put policies in place requiring practice in getting out of an airplane when it might be necessary.

The report said the student was practicing inverted spins from about 1,800 feet. "Inverted spinning is known to be a disorientating experience and the spin in this case continued for at least three turns," the report said. "The student and instructor's lack of experience in inverted spinning may have delayed effective recovery action."

Instructor Simon Hulme, an RAF Flight Lieutenant, had at one time described the student, Spencer Bennett, a 43-year-old British national living in Holland, as having the "correct attitude," but not picking up the maneuvers as quickly as some others, and making slightly more mistakes.

(YAK-52 image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.aaib.gov.uk